Posted on 04/05/2008 1:31:16 PM PDT by Kaslin
Public Opinion: Most global surveys on image spotlight negative views of the U.S. But a new poll of U.S. perceptions of Britain shows a plunge. Since it's the U.K.'s turn under this microscope, we'll venture some reasons.
But from a BBC World Service poll of 1,000 Americans, it's clear U.S. views of Britain have fallen sharply. The BBC said "positive views" of Britain stand now at 45%, down from 67% a year ago. Those holding negative views are at 42%, up from 18%.
What happened? The poll gives no reason for the big shift, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to gauge at least some possibilities:
First, it's clear Britain is no longer the ally it once was. In the great war on terror, its leaders are going wobbly, despite the valor of British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Britain's weakening commitment signals an unreliable partner, which whatever the rationale, isn't admirable.
Recall that, amid public sentiment against the war, the U.K. pulled its troops out of Basra in 2007, saying they'd finished their job, but leaving a region in chaos. U.S. troops have had to clean up the mess, raising their risk and burden.
And under direct fire, some British forces looked downright soggy. When an Iranian National Guard boat brazenly took British sailors hostage in 2007, the U.K. military leadership sought to free them at any cost, including national honor.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
They’re going Islam-o-nanny .....
Like my Dad used to say, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed”.
I had to get near the bottom of the article to find the most likely reason.
Their euro-peons like the rest of em.... we’ve been cleaning up their miscalculations for decades. Their condescending attitudes and lack of appreciation for the sacrifices Americans have made to clean up their messes has grown tiresome.
It’s been downhill since Atlee . . .
This is tame compared to the vitriol from the “Guardian”.
They just put turbo-boost on their national decline.
Hate to watch...love(d?) the place!
Their media is feeding it just like ours is.
Then there’s the fact that the UK has become more Orwellian than George Orwell imagined possible.
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I think you mean formerly a great country. I remember travelling through the U.K. in the Seventies and even then there was a strong undercurrent of anti-Americanism, especially in the university towns. Most of it had to do with the then-recent Vietnam War but a lot of the more traditional consevative types seemed to have a chip on their shoulder because the U.S. had eclipsed their country.
Since then, as you stated, it has been a fast fall.
The english speaking people only love each other in crisis.This sounds weak and feckless but it’s not.
If one’s first language is english,then one is forever connected to the greatest,most free and advanced global society in history.
Look at the countries today that were colonized by nations other than England and you will see chaos,corruption,tyranny and ignorance in the vast majority of them.
No Anglophillic bigotry-just historical fact.
Granted,England did try a bit of genocide with the Irish,but as with the American Cival War,all turned out well in the end.
The UK and her greatest,if unintended,legacy,the United States of America,share the beggetting of the best the earth has to offer.
It matters not the race or ethnicity,english speaking people are bound by not just a language but a metaphysical gene pool that makes them special and invulnerable to mortal injury exept from within.
In peace we play the silly socialist games that divide us—the WOT is kind of on the back burner of late as memories of 9/11 fade and new such attacks have not manifested.
It won’t last and we will be lovers again.
England’s former colonies in Africa are a mess.
I don’t know. Lady T wasn’t too bad.
True,but other than Kenya and South Africa,the others were never fully colonized.Compared to other sub-Sahara nations,they are still certainly better than the rest.
Also,formerly colonized Muslim countries tend to stray to tyranny on their own no matter what European country once held them.
I did not intend to make a universal assumption and you are correct to correct me.
I meant “in most cases.”
>True,but other than Kenya and South Africa,the others were never fully colonized.
Rhodesia.
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